24/7 Military Space News





. Talks deadlocked over NKorea wish for "peaceful" nuclear activities
BEIJING (AFP) Aug 04, 2005
Talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament were deadlocked Thursday when the Stalinist state refused to give up nuclear programs for peaceful purposes -- the key stumbling block in negotiations.

In rare comments to reporters, Pyongyang's chief delegate Kim Kye-gwan insisted his country had the right to "peaceful nuclear activities."

Kim blamed US disagreement for the "major difficulties" in the talks.

"We are here to be committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. However, we want to reserve the right for the peaceful nuclear activities," Kim told reporters following a late-night session.

"All nations in the world have the right for the peaceful nuclear activities."

Other parties to the negotiations have said disagreement over whether Pyongyang should give up all its nuclear programs, or just its nuclear weapons programs, have stalled talks.

Kim said the United States was the only country opposed to its use of nuclear energy for civilian purposes, such as nuclear power plants.

The US State Department said last week any nuclear program can be turned into a nuclear weapons project by North Korea.

Japan has also stated it was against Pyongyang's operating nuclear programs even for civilian use but China and Russia have said previously they did not object.

Ahead of their 11th day Friday, the talks hit another hurdle -- differences between the North and the US on what steps each side should take to achieve a nuclear weapons free North Korea, Kim and others said.

In exchange for dismantlement the impoverished North has demanded normalization of ties with the United States, as well as economic assistance including fuel oil aid, and non-aggression guarantees,

The United States has persistently demanded that the North give up its weapons programs before it gets aid and energy.

US chief delegate Christopher Hill indicated Thursday the US wanted detailed commitments from the North.

"They have got to make real decisions. We need to have a situation where we know precisely what they have agreed to do, what they have agreed to abandon," Hill told reporters.

"We cannot have a situation where the DRPK pretends to abandon its nuclear programs and we pretend to believe them," he said referring to the North by its official name the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea.

"They know exactly what the situation is. We need clarity from them on these principles. That is so necessary."

Despite the lack of an agreement all sides in the talks, which also include China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, want to keep the negotiations going, Hill and others said.

"We are very much getting to the end game. We really have the desire to see if we reach an agreement," Hill said. "I suspect we are really getting to the last couple of days of this."

Host China, whose role as mediator would be jeopardised if talks failed, appeared to try to lower expectations, suggesting a widely-expected joint statement would not materialise.

The statement is believed to outline how Pyongyang would dump its atomic arsenal and what it would get in return.

"Whether or not the six-party talks are successful should not depend on whether or not there will be a joint statement," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

The fourth round of talks, which come after a 13-month stalemate, have been the longest since the process began in 2003. They resumed after the reclusive regime raised the stakes in February by declaring it already has nuclear bombs.

All previous rounds ended inconclusively. A collapse of the latest round could prompt Washington to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions, a move vigorously opposed by China.

The crisis erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused the North of running a secretive uranium enrichment program.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email